YoungestToOldest

From Teens to 40-Somethings: The Youngest and Oldest Gold Medalists in Olympic History (Part I: Freestyle)

Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - 16:49 By Ikuo Higuchi

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(This is the first of a three-part series that appeared on the Japan Wrestling Federation website. It was translated for UWW by Ken Marantz.)

With wrestling currently on hold along with the rest of world sports and looking for a distraction, I started to wonder about the Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed for a year. Would that have any affect on the records for youngest- and oldest-ever Olympic champions in history each of the three styles? 

What put that subject into my head was a story I had read on an American media website. In the report, it speculated that the Tokyo Games might produce the oldest gold medalist in Olympic wrestling history. But what struck me most was that the information cited didn't sound right to me. The ages seemed off. 

So, with perhaps a bit too much time on my hands, I set out to confirm my suspicions and researched the ages of every Olympic wrestling gold medalist in history. The results were quite fascinating, and enabled me to come up with top 15 lists for both ends of the age spectrum in all three styles. Today I will start with freestyle.

First-Ever Teen Grabs a Gold
There have been 198 gold medals awarded in freestyle wrestling in Olympic history since wrestling first appeared at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. The champions have been mostly in their 20s, with a fair number in their 30s. But there has been the rare teenager, and the even rarer 40-something to make it to the top step of the podium. 

The youngest in history in freestyle has been Saban TRSTENA (YUG), who may have competed for a country that no longer exists but left his name in the record books when he won the 52kg gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics at the tender age of 19 years 7 months 9 days. 

Trstena had gone into the Los Angeles Games riding high from a victory in the final of that year's European Championships over reigning world champion Valentin JORDANOV (BUL), who has his own place in wrestling history (more on that later).  Trstena's triumph in L.A. made him the first teenager in Olympic history in either style to win a gold. 

En route to the gold, Trstena knocked off Yuji TAKADA (JPN), the 1976 gold medalist who was unable to defend his title at the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the U.S.-led boycott. Takada, a four-time world champion, is now executive director of the Japan Wrestling Federation. Trstena's connection with Japan, however, was not finished--at the Seoul Olympics four years later, he would lose in the final to Mitsuru SATO (JPN). 

One one other teenager has ever won an Olympic crown. Togrul ASGAROV (AZE) was a little more than one month shy of his 20th birthday when he captured the 60kg gold at the 2012 London Olympics. While young, he was not unknown going into London, having won the world junior gold the previous year and the European senior title five months before the Olympics. In the third round in London, he eked out a 2-0 (1-0, 2-2) win over 2008 silver medalist Kenichi YUMOTO (JPN).

Four years later, Asgarov was denied a second straight gold at the 2016 Rio Games when he lost in the 65kg final to Soslan RAMONOV (RUS). After falling out of the spotlight following that defeat, local media has reported he will aim to qualify for Tokyo at 74kg. 

Looking at the other end of the timeline, it had been reported that Jordanov became the oldest freestyle champion in Olympic history when he won the 52kg gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at a spry 36 years 6 months 7 days. But this was a mistake. On the day Arsen MEKOKISHVILI (URS) won the over-87kg gold at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, the Soviet wrestler was 40 years 3 months 11 days. In fact, Jordanov is third on the all-time list.

It is worth noting that the rules have changed regarding weigh-ins, which could affect the performance of older wrestlers. Having just a single weigh-in, on the first day of competition, might be to a veteran's advantage, as they might have more trouble with weight control. 

At Olympics that had weigh-ins over a span of two or more days, Sergei BELOGLAZOV (URS) takes the honor as oldest-ever champion by winning the 57kg gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics 14 days after his 32nd birthday. Limiting it further to Games which had multiple weigh-ins on the mornings of competition days, Mirian ZALKALAMANIDZE (URS) was the oldest, having been 29 years 7 months 8 days at the time of his victory at 52kg at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

As world wrestling has recently returned to the latter system, it will make a gold-medal performance by a 30-something wrestler even more noteworthy. One candidate might be Yowlys BONNE RODRIGUEZ (CUB), who won the 2018 world title in Budapest at 61kg at the age of 34 years 11 months 9 days, although it is not certain he will be on the team to Tokyo.

Looking at the Top 15 lists, one wrestler makes both. Bouvaisa SAITIEV (RUS) occupies the No. 13 spot among youngest-ever with his 1996 Atlanta gold, and ranks 11th among the oldest in history after striking gold again 12 years later in Beijing. 

TOP 15 YOUNGEST OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS (FREESTYLE)

    Name                                                        Age                               Olympics               Wt.    Date of birth (Yr/Mo/Day)

1. Saban TRSTENA (YUG)                    19 years 7 months 9 days        1984 Los Angeles       52kg     1965/01/01

2. Togrul ASGAROV (AZE)                    19 years 10 months 25 days    2012 London              60kg    1992/09/17

3. Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS)         20 years  3 months 11 days     2016 Rio de Janeiro   86kg    1996/05/09

4. Sanasar OGANESYAN (URS)            20 years  5 months 24 days    1980 Moscow             90kg    1960/02/05

5. Mavlet BATIROV (RUS)                     20 years  8 months 16 days     2004 Athens              55kg    1983/12/12

6. Magomedgasan ABUSHEV (URS)     20 years  8 months 19 days    1980 Moscow             62kg    1959/11/10

7. Kyle SNYDER (USA)                          20 years  9 months 1 day        2016 Rio de Janeiro   97kg    1995/11/20

8. Henry CEJUDO (USA)                       20 years  11 months 17 days   2008 Beijing              55kg    1987/09/02

9. Il KIM (PRK)                                       21 years  0 months 11 days     1992 Barcelona          48kg    1971/07/25

10. Bakhtiar AKMEDOV (RUS)              21 years  0 months 16 days     2008 Beijing              120kg   1987/08/05

11. George DE RELWYSKOW (GBR)    21 years  1 month 6 days         1908 London             66.6kg   1887/06/18

12. Mitsuo IKEDA (JPN)                         21 years  1 month 17 days       1956 Melbourne          73kg    1935/10/14

13. Bouvaisa SAITIEV (RUS)                  21 years  0 months 11 days     1996 Atlanta                74kg    1975/03/11

14. Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)                    21 years  7 months 24 days     2016 Rio de Janeiro   74kg    1994/12/26

15. Khadshimourad GATSALOV (RUS)  21 years  7 months 24 days     2004 Athens              96kg     1982/12/11

 

TOP 15 OLDEST OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS (FREESTYLE)

    Name                                                        Age                             Olympics                   Wt.  Date of birth  (Yr/Mo/Day)

1. Arsen MEKOKISHVILI (URS)            40 years 3 months 11 days     1952 Helsinki              +87kg    1912/04/12

2. Gyula BOBIS (HUN)                           38 years 9 months 24 days    1948 London               +87kg     1909/10/07

3. Valentin JORDANOV (BUL)              36 years 6 months 7 days        1996 Atlanta                 52kg     1960/01/26

4. Kaarlo MAEKINEN (FIN)                  36 years 2 months 18 days      1928 Amsterdam          56kg     1892/05/14

5. *Yasar DOGU (TUR)                          35 years 6 months 30 days      1948 London                73kg     1913/01/01

6. Hermann GEHRI (SUI)                     34 years 11 months 18 days      1924 Paris                    72kg     1889/07/26

7. Alexander MEDVED (URS)                34 years 11 months 15 days      1972 Munich             +100kg   1937/09/16

8. Mahmut ATALAY (TUR)                   34 years 6 months 20 days       1968 Mexico City         78kg     1934/03/30

9. Kustaa PIHLAJAMAEKI (FIN)         34 years 3 months 28 days       1936 Berlin                    61kg       1902/04/07

10. Johan RICHTHOFF (SWE)               34 years 3 months 3 days         1932 Los Angeles       +87kg    1898/04/30

11. Bouvaisa SAITIEV (RUS)                  33 years 5 months 9 days         2008 Beijing                 74kg     1975/03/11

12. Artur TAIMAZOV (UZB)                   33 years 0 months 22 days       2012  London              120kg    1979/07/20

13. Kaarlo Johan ANTTILA (FIN)          32 years 11 months 28 days      1920 Antwerp             67.5kg    1887/08/30

14. Emile POILVE (FRA)                         32 years 10 months 16 days       1936 Berlin                   79kg    1903/09/19

15. Olle ANDERBERG (SWE)                 32 years 10 months 10 days       1952 Helsinki               67kg    1919/09/13

*--There are discrepancies in the birthdate of Yasar Dogu. The date used here is conjecture from various sources.

#WrestleParis

Japan gold medalists meet fans, looking to inspire their successors

Thursday, August 29, 2024 - 14:15 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (August 29) -- It may not compare to the punishing six minutes on the mat in an Olympic final, but standing for over two hours shaking hands, taking photos and signing autographs can take its toll -- and be rewarding in its own way.

Rei HIGUCHI was among five of Japan's eight gold medalists at the Paris Olympics who participated in a meet-and-greet on Sunday in Tokyo, where over 500 people turned out to see this new group of heroes.

"I don't want this to be the last event, so we can help make wrestling more popular," Higuchi said at a press conference following the session. "That's one of the responsibilities of the top athletes. I want to do all that I can."

Higuchi, the freestyle 57kg champion, was joined by fellow freestyle gold medalist Kotaro KIYOOKA (65kg), Greco winner Nao KUSAKA (77kg) and women's champions Tsugumi SAKURAI (57kg) and Sakura MOTOKI (62kg), as well as freestyle 74kg silver medalist Daichi TAKATANI.

The adoring fans came in all ages and sizes, from parents with toddlers to schoolkids sporting their wrestling club t-shirts to senior citizens, all waiting patiently in line for the chance to get up close and personal with a handful of the stars who had brought glory to their country.

For the wrestlers themselves, it was a way to express their thanks for the support they received, and to help inspire the next generation that can hopefully someday match or exceed the wrestling squad's outsized performance in Paris, where it won 11 medals in the 13 weight classes in which it had entries.

"It's amazing, more people showed up than I thought would," Sakurai said. "It really shows the value of the Olympics. I get a sense of how it gives the children dreams to shoot for.

"When I was little, I saw an Olympic gold medal and it really inspired me to work hard in wrestling. In the same way, it makes me happy if it inspires others by seeing my medal."

The event was held in the entranceway at the Komazawa Indoor Ball Sports Arena (Komazawa Gym is being renovated) in conjunction with the third day of the national collegiate championships. Many of the collegians came out for a peek at the medalists, some of whom are still, or until recently were, their teammates.

With the six lined up against a backdrop of posters of the Olympic squad, each person or group would hand their phone to a volunteer, who would snap photos as they were surrounded by the wrestlers.

The wrestlers flashed a smile and held up their medal for each shot, and sometimes one would put their medal around a young fan's neck. They all had no qualms about letting the fans touch the medal and feel its weight (and it's heavy, alright).

"I'm really happy to have so many people come to this and get a chance to touch the medal," Higuchi said. "Kids who are wrestling also came, and I am happy if this helps nurture those who will follow us. It seems that a lot of people watched the Olympics. I wanted to put [the medal] around the neck of every one, and I felt bad that there was a problem with time.

After the photos, they all took a few steps over to a table, where the wrestlers would sign autographs on t-shirts, notebooks or "shikishi," the traditional white cardboard used for such occasions. In some cases, they signed their names directly on a t-shirt that the fan was wearing.

Keito Ota, a 12-year-old from Tokyo whose mother allowed him to stay up and watch the Olympic finals that started at 4 a.m. Japan time, came to meet his favorite wrestler, Kiyooka.

"Kiyooka-san is so cool, so that's why I came to this autograph session," said Ota, a national schoolboy fifth-grade champion who was wearing his Figure Four Club t-shirt. "I was really glad [they are here], I'll work hard to become an athlete like them. The team that will be made up from my generation, we'll try to get more than eight medals."

The six medalists, from left, Rei HIGUCHI, Kotaro KIYOOKA, Tsugumi SAKURAI, Sakura MOTOKI, Nao KUSAKA and Daichi TAKATANI, pose together after the event. The six medalists, from left, Rei HIGUCHI, Kotaro KIYOOKA, Tsugumi SAKURAI, Sakura MOTOKI, Nao KUSAKA and Daichi TAKATANI, pose together after the event.

Needing to spread the word

It some ways, the event could be considered a case of preaching to the choir. There is no way of knowing how many came who had no interest in wrestling prior to the Olympics, but the Japan federation does have a problem when it comes to raising the popularity of the sport to match the country's achievements in it.

Overall, Japan won 20 gold medals in Paris, which means that nearly half were won in wrestling. But the media leans toward highlighting Gen-X favorites like skateboarding and rock-climbing, or gymnastics and table tennis in which the top competitors have become household names.

Going into Paris, the main focus when it came to wrestling was on women's 50kg star Yui SUSAKI, mainly because she was the only Japanese champion from the Tokyo Olympics who was defending her crown in Paris.

The national championships have not been regularly televised since the years when three-time Olympic champion Saori YOSHIDA was a media darling back in the early 2000s. In recent years, the only time it made the airwaves was when Rio Olympic champions Kaori ICHO and Risako KAWAI squared off to make the team to Tokyo.

"We wrestlers won eight of the 20 gold medals [won by Japan in Paris], and overall, we had 13 wrestlers and 11 won medals," the 28-year-old Higuchi said. "But it's not just about that result. From now, we have to use opportunities like this to make more people aware of the sport of wrestling.

"If wrestling stays unknown and is just a sport that comes up once every four years, there will be nobody coming up to follow us. We need to do activities that spread the word.

"It's because of those who support these events and tournaments that we were able to become wrestlers. We appreciate them, which includes the media, as we continue to do everything in our power to promote the sport."

Higuchi pointed out the vast difference between the crowd at the Japan college championships, which was maybe in the hundreds, and those at the U.S. NCAA tournament, which draws in the tens of thousands. "The intensity is completely different," he said.

During and after the Olympics, the wrestlers got valuable chances to publicize the sport on news programs and variety shows, which were only too happy to capitalize on the Olympic enthusiasm by booking appearances from the Paris medalists.

In one segment, Greco 60kg gold medalist Kenichiro FUMITA demonstrated to an unsuspecting host just how tight the waist hold of a gut wrench can be. He also got on the bottom of par terre to show how he resisted his opponents in Paris and kept from being turned. The host could barely budge him.

"The way we are treated, they are so nice, it's like we've become a celebrity," Takatani said. "Even if I made an unusual request, they listened to it. It showed just how highly regarded the Olympics is. It's like I saw a whole new world."

Sakurai, who had won a third straight world title heading to Paris (at 55kg in 2021 and conseeutive titles at 57kg in 2022 and 2023), said she had never gained much attention from the general public for her previous exploits.

"It was very different from the World Championships," Sakurai said. "The responses and the excitement from everyone after the World Championships and after the Olympics are different.

"The Olympics were broadcast on television and everyone knows the results. People [at this event] were so happy, like they were meeting their idols, even just to shake hands...I'm not the talkative type and it's hard for me to respond, but I'll do what I can to make them happy again."

With the abundance of golds, Kiyooka fell under the radar and lamented that he had not been invited onto any TV shows. But he still got some well-deserved recognition back in his hometown, where he was honored with a Citizen's Certificate of Honor from both Kochi Prefecture and Kochi City.

"They even came to greet me at the airport," Kiyooka said, adding that there is a parade planned for him and fellow Kochi native Sakurai -- they both started wrestling in the kids club coached by her father -- in September.

Kiyooka appears to have the fine makings for an ambassador for the sport. Asked what he attributed the success of Japan's team in Paris to, Kiyooka replied, "On the wrestling team of Team Japan, every one of us loves wrestling from the bottom of our hearts. We all want to have an influence and uplift others, and in doing so, it produced this result."

What lies ahead

So what will the champions do for an encore? For the moment, they are content to relish the adulation and take some time for a well-deserved rest.

It looks like Kiyooka and Kusaka will be the first ones to get back on the mat in earnest, as both plan to participate in the German Bundesliga in October.

"It's a place I've always wanted to go and give me a new dream," Kiyooka said. "Then I will get down to the job of defending my title in four years."

Kusaka had prepared for the Paris Olympics by traveling solo using his own money to train in Germany and Hungary. He also took part in the Bundesliga, where now he will have more name recognition as an Olympic champion.

Higuchi said that at 28, he does not feel his age is a barrier at all. He is undecided on trying next year to add to the world gold that he won last year at 61kg, but would like to arrange visits to top U.S. colleges like Iowa in the winter.

More than the World Championships, he said his focus is on the 2026 Asian Games, which remains the only major laurel missing from his collection. Adding to the incentive is that the Games will be held in the central Japan city of Nagoya.

"The one thing that is still missing is the Asian Games title, so I will aim to qualify for that," Higuchi said.

Motoki will be taking a break for awhile, but has her sights on someday completing the Grand Slam of age-group world titles.

She won the world U17 in 2018 and U20 in 2022, but has come up just short on the senior level, winning a bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023. She has yet to enter the world U23, and will still be eligible to enter next year's tournament.

"I went through a tough year up to the Olympics and I like wrestling, so I will take a break," Motoki said. "I don't want to train for records or to win consecutive titles or things like that, but I do want to take a stab at completing the Grand Slam. That gives me a new challenge and it will be nice if I can get it."

Higuchi calls for weight allowance

Higuchi also talked from first-hand experience about the sad saga of Vinesh PHOGAT (IND), and called for some kind of weight allowance for second-day weigh-ins.

Phogat had handed Susaki her first-ever international loss en route to the women's 50kg final, only to be disqualified for failing to make weight on the second day.

Higuchi can certainly sympathize. Looking to make up for his loss in the final at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he infamously failed to make weight for the Asian Qualifier for the Tokyo Games, which indirectly led to him missing out.

"I certainly understand her feelings of despair," Higuchi said. "But we are competing under rules, and you can't reverse a decision that has been made. The second day weigh-in is more difficult than the first, and it's something I would like to have changed."

Higuchi said that giving the wrestlers an allowance of one or two kilograms would make a huge difference, both physically and mentally.

"After the matches are over on the first day, you have to lose two or three kilograms," Higuchi said. "It's tough after the matches, and if you lose in the first or second round, you have to prepare without knowing if you will have a match or not. It's really grueling. I'd really like them to do even a little to help us out.

"But that's something for UWW to decide. All I can do is go along with [the rules]."